Course Details

Course Information Package

Course Unit Title	DESIGN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Course Unit Code	MID507
Course Unit Details	MA Interdisciplinary Design (Elective Courses) -
Number of ECTS credits allocated	4
Learning Outcomes of the course unit	By the end of the course, the students should be able to: Assimilate the core concepts and tools used to increase the likelihood of organizational success in launching and running new ventures both in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Recognize entrepreneurial potential and how that potential can be applied in a variety of professional contexts. Appreciate the critical role of entrepreneurial management in achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the contemporary business environment; Approach managerial problems and opportunities from a more entrepreneurial perspective. Apply ideas and insights from a variety of disciplines and functional areas to the process involved in creating innovative concepts and new ventures. Appreciate the requirements surrounding the creation of a new venture, the kinds of obstacles encountered, and approaches for overcoming those obstacles. Critique innovative concepts and ideas and the underlying opportunities that give rise to those venture ideas. Appreciate and master the issues surrounding implementation of an entrepreneurial idea. Demonstrate a mastery of resource leveraging and guerrilla management skills. Engage in reflective thinking and creativity in addressing problems that surround an entrepreneurial initiative. Establish an entrepreneurial perspective that will serve you over your lifetime. Demonstrate how your innate creativity, intellect, training, and experience can be channeled to an art and design career. Demonstrate the risks, rewards, satisfaction and power inherent in an entrepreneurial lifestyle. Demonstrate understanding of for- and non-profit business structures, as well as knowledge of marketing and communication. Demonstrate awareness of what is expected of a professional artist in the marketplace. Appreciate how markets are shaped by the art and design sphere, in terms of behavior and perception. Challenge the current stances that face the Art and Design sphere: audience development, financial support, popular culture, perception, etc. Engage in successful practices in popularizing the Art and Design field.
Mode of Delivery	Face-to-face
Prerequisites	NONE	Co-requisites	NONE
Recommended optional program components	NONE
Course Contents	• Introduction; Defining Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship: leading economic force. Who or what is an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial psychology, Characteristics of entrepreneurs, Emotional Intelligence. Ethics and the Entrepreneur; The Unique Ethical Challenges in Entrepreneurial Ventures; What Does Your Ethical Compass Look Like? Why the Entrepreneur’s Exit Strategy Matters; Types of Exit Strategies • The business plan process Why business plans?, Finding business opportunities, Basic business concept; Company’s description, Company’s mission statement, Evaluating opportunities: the difference between an opportunity and another good idea. Finalize business concept, The company’s description, The company’s mission statement. • Sources of information. Why this will work for you? Researching your environment. Evaluating and refining your business concept. Cost of Living Budget, INDUSTRY ANALYSIS, Budgeting, Start up budget, Cash flow/Direct method • Target markets and competition analysis. RISK ASSESSMENT. the Investment Model (Income, Growth, or Speculative)?; Ways of Extracting Returns from the Venture; The Concept of Risk; Types of Risk; Assessing Risk in a New Venture; Risk and Return; A Look at Resources and Resource Acquisition Strategies; • Marketing portion of the business plan. Promotion and sales, Advertising and Public Relations. Innovation, New Product Development, and the Entrepreneur; Technology Life Cycles; Disruptive verses Sustaining Technology; Four Technology Decisions Entrepreneurs Have to Make • Operations. How you run your business. Facilities, Utilities/Maintenance, Production, Supply, Distribution. Operations and the New Venture; Designing Your Operating Model; Bottlenecks and How to Manage Them; Suppliers and Inventory Policies; Outsourcing Options; Logistics; Quality Control Issues; Customer Support. • Management and personnel. Organizational chart. Recruiting and hiring. Training. Labor union issues • Legal issues. Forms of organization. Organizational form and income tax. LAWYERS FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS. • Start-up costs and funding sources. The cost of financing. Debt financing. Equity financing. Pro-Forma Financial Statements; Understanding the Basics of how Ventures get Financed
Recommended and/or required reading:
Textbooks	Steven Heller, The Education of a Design Entrepreneur, Allworth Press, 2002. Roger L. Martin , The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage, Harvard Business School Press, 2009.
References	Steven Heller and, Lita Talarico, The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell, Rockport Publishers, 2008. Shan Preddy, How to Run a Successful Design Business Gower for the UK Design Council, 2010.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods	This course explores the cognitive skills of design and entrepreneurship together. Students interested in innovation and creativity and bringing these ideas to market will benefit. Through reading, discussion, lecture, research assignment, journal entry and project presentation students will learn the specific application of both design and business ideas in their work. Studying philosophy, creation and application will bring together sometimes disparate strands of expertise. Attention will be focused in the class through projects and presentations on the student’s understanding of design and entrepreneurship. This course emphasizes both the material/physical manifestation of design as well as its philosophical alter-ego. Emphasis will be shared with attention to business planning and starting. The reality of the business environment – its practicality and functional demands – adds multiple layers of significance to any work. Discussion with local entrepreneurs and international case study will engage students ‘real world’ practice. The premise being that the design environment is real – it is dwelled with, created, used and it sits, also, in time and space. The use of personal tutorials is an important and integral part of the teaching methodology.
Assessment methods and criteria	Quizzes 20% Journal entry 15% Business Model presentation 20% Research assignment 15% Final test 15% Participation & Attendance 15%
Language of instruction	English
Work placement(s)	NO